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Josiah Gorgas

Josiah Gorgas (July 1, 1818 ‚Äď May 15, 1883) was
one of the few Northern-born Confederate generals in
the American Civil War. As chief of
ordnance, he managed to keep the Confederate armies supplied with
weapons and ammunition, despite the Union blockade and even though the South had hardly any munitions
industry before the war began. He kept diaries during the Civil War
which are now a popular subject of study for historians.

Civil War

He followed his wife into secession, moved to Richmond
and became chief of ordnance for the Confederacy. In this capacity,
he worked to create an armaments industry almost from scratch. The
South had no foundry except
the Tredegar Iron Works. There were no
rifle works except small arsenals in Richmond, and Fayetteville, North
Carolina, plus the captured machines from the Union armory in
Harpers Ferry. Gorgas
established armories and foundries, found alternative sources for
saltpeter, and created a huge gunpowder mill at Augusta,
Georgia. Thanks to his efforts, the Southern armies never
lacked weapons, though they were short on almost everything else.
On November 10, 1864, Gorgas was promoted to brigadier general.

Postbellum

After the war, Gorgas accepted a position at the newly
established University of
the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. In 1878, he was
elected president of the University of Alabama and moved
to the house that is still known as Gorgas House. In 1883, he died,
after which his wife became the university's librarian. The main
university library is named the Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library.